A Camp Lejeune Marine pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to soliciting bribes from a government contractor while deployed to Iraq.

Julio Arreola, 36, of Camp Lejeune, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to demanding and seeking a bribe in violation of Title 18, United States Code. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 13 where Arreola faces a total maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised probation.

Arreola was a gunnery sergeant assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Group, Engineer Company, from February to September 2008. During this deployment to Camp Fallujah he supervised construction projects, including obtaining quotes from contractors, initiating purchase orders on behalf of the U.S. Government, and overseeing the delivery of supplies, according to an indictment and information stated in open court.

In June 2008, Arreola told a representative of Davut Construction and Services Company that he would recommend to the Defense Department various items be purchased from Davut in return for cash payments, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas Walker of the Eastern District of North Carolina. Arreola also told the Davut representative that the bribe money could come from inflated price quotes generated by Davut and given to the DoD with the difference turned over to Arreola as a payoff.

“It’s disheartening when a military member abandons his code of conduct and violates a position of trust for personal enrichment,” said John F. Khin, special agent-in-charge of the Southeast Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. “We continue to aggressively investigate violators to preserve precious American taxpayer dollars and better support our warfighters serving honorably and selflessly in Southwest Asia.”

NCIS assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan is prosecuting the case.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.